Wild about wool

Pleased to bleat you!

Wool does grow on trees!

Kit Kemp’s roomset

As we often say on the CL blog, we love to champion all things creative, so were excited to learn about a current free exhibition called Wool House. On until 24 March (catch it while you can!) at Somerset House on the Strand in central London, and launched by The Campaign For Wool (campaignforwool.org), it showcases a number of rooms all beautifully styled with the fibre and showing how versatile and contemporary it is in the world of interiors and fashion.

If you didn’t know already…

Using the skills of diverse interior designers and stylists such as Arabella McNie, Anne Kyyrö-Quinn, Kit Kemp and Ashley Hicks, and featuring the amazingly inspiring work of 200 artisans and craftspeople, the unique room sets (from bubbly brights to calming neutrals) contain stunning furniture, clothing and accessories that reveal the many ways wool can be used and how naturally beautiful it is, along with being natural, renewable and sustainable.

Donna Wilson’s nursery

Shauna Richardson’s Crochetdermy bear

Claudy Jongstra’s beautiful tapestries

Step inside the entrance hall and you come face to face with a life-size ‘crochetdermy’ brown bear by Shauna Richardson (shaunarichardson.com) and a huge black and white Clouds wall feature by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Kvadrat. Then enter the rooms one by one to discover lots of tactile treats.

Linking with manufacturers in the textile industry – sumptuous carpet runners are on the floors and walls – the exhibition is hugely inspiring, not just for how many pieces can be seen but how evidently dedicated the people who have produced them must be – each item is perfectly created, and has taken a great deal of time to reach its finished form. There are also interesting interactive workshops on, too. Go see it while it’s on and I guarantee you’ll leave full of lots of ideas on how to introduce wonderful wool into your home, while knowing that you’re helping to keep the textiles industry alive and, even better if you buy British, helping our sheep farmers and wool industry to thrive.